Glory and Glitter
by Lilacnightmares
Summary: How ironic that he became a Fairy-Specialist after spending so much time around her, Gloria, the girl with the fondness for fairies that had changed everything for not only him but for all of the Galar region.


Notes:

It's been a long time since I've written anything for Pokemon and having just finished SWSH, I couldn't resist writing for Bede and Gloria. I kind of wrote a lot more than I expected so here's hoping this isn't a mess.

* * *

Life had changed a lot in the past year for everyone.

There was a new Champion, new Gym Leaders, new league challengers, new leadership over the league and its companies, and countless other new intricacies that had made Galar much different from the place it had been in years prior.

It was a breath of fresh air for many and the start of a new era that would be fraught with many new beginnings and stories of valor and wit.

Gloria is the Champion.

Hop is studying to become a Pokémon Professor underneath Sonia.

Marnie is now the Gym Leader of Spikemuth's gym as Piers stepped down.

And Bede? He's the Gym Leader in Ballonlea after Opal deemed him worthy of such.

Everybody is so very far from where they started and there was only forward to look to in regards to what would happen from then on. Bede can't say that he isn't content with how things turned out because he's in a better space now. He's learned a lot about himself a lot about his mistakes, he's only trying to be a stronger trainer with a kinder heart from now on.

Bede had learned that from her, and as much as he hated to admit it sometimes, he learned a lot from Gloria. She was the one who spurned such intense feelings in him that led him to the path that he was on today in a sense, although he made his decisions for himself, it would be foolish to stay she didn't have a hand in it.

Gloria, with the brave heart but gentle insurance that takes a beast with her passion to save everyone.

Gloria, who shined like a brilliant star. She had never once treated him with scorn or disdain. She treated him just as anyone else, and the fact that she did so without a second thought, the fact that she chose to hang around him and battle with him simply because she loved the "fun" they had weighed on him.

Gloria, who loved battling and saw it not as glory, but as a way to flourish. She took his smugness in stride and teased him back. Their banter in battle on and off the field was always so hotly debated. She pushed his buttons and he riled her up simply because it was easy.

And Gloria, the girl with fairy Pokémon who refused to stand down. Her heart was massive and it was reflected in the type of Pokémon that she choose to keep at her side.

He could remember when they spoke to one another for the first time during a battle, how she proudly fought with those glitter-riddled Pokémon and thrust her hand to the sky as she made her way to the spot. Her Ralts at the time had nearly given him whiplash, and the Swirlix had been no better, and it only grew from that point to the team she had now.

The team that had shown him its power and made him realize what he was meant to do.

A girl with glimmering Pokémon as mysterious as the Slumbering Wead came to him and ripped him from his seat and showed him another way to live, to breathe, to battle.

He never expected to be bested by somebody with a team filled with Pokémon who were all fueled to the brim with an earnest, companionate love. Perhaps it was strange to him because he simply had never felt that kind of love before in his life.

Bede had never received a real true love, no, he spent years clawing his way to the top to get the attention of the Chairman the way he had when he was a young boy the first time they met, but even if the man complimented him and paid for his schooling and housing, those words often felt hollow and without warmth.

Cold… as Circhester in the dead of winter.

He wasn't thought fondly of.

He was merely a tool.

A tool to further the Chairman's plans for devastation.

He realized how little the man must have cared after the fiasco that had him removed from the Challenge.

Sure, he had made mistakes, but nobody stopped to talk to him about it. They just cut him off and abandoned him to the wayside like he was nothing.

He had been doing what Olena had been telling him to do, what she had been feeding him to do for the sake of the Chairman and his praise, and yet, despite how hard he had worked for them, and the fact that he did as they asked without question only to be punished?

It was that bleak shock that left him wandering the streets of Hammerlocke with dread in his gut.

He had been so confused, so lost, and so hurt. This had been his entire purpose in life and just like that, it was ripped away from him. There was no bloody way he was going to accept this but at the same that weight of shame that they pushed on him hurt.

It couldn't have been the end.

And that was when Gloria came to him, and Opal was not far behind her with that eccentric way about herself. She had taken one look at him and then one look at Gloria, and nodded her head. She grabbed at him and delighted in gleeful laughter at her new scheme.

"Great. You've come to gawk at me like a sideshow now that I've had my challenge band, and gym challenger status taken away? Can you really afford to waste time on this?"

Gloria's eyes were filled with a strange concern as she looked at him. It wasn't the hurt that crossed her eyes when she saw what he had done back in Stow-on-Side. "I wouldn't exactly say that speaking with you is a waste of time, Wooloo head. I was worried about you."

Worried?

About him?

It surely didn't seem like that. However, her words didn't sound as though she were pitying him, and that he appreciated. He didn't want to hear any nonsense about whatever had transpired out there. Bede paid those feelings no mind and decided to redirect the conversation.

"Don't act so holy. I bet you're feeling rather good inside right about now. Somebody like you must be relieved that there's no real completion left to battle," he said, flatly.

She had that buffoon Hop, and that girl with a frustrating crowd of loud ruffians, Marnie. That was about it, there were no other challengers that had made it as far as they had. Gloria could wipe the floor with them without breaking a sweat.

Wasn't that boring?

Not even a challenge worthy of a grand battle left! She must have been walking a real cakewalk!

Gloria shook her head. Her fingers clung to the straps of her garish backpack that was doubled the size of her torso. The thing was just as much an eyesore as that sweater wrapped about her shoulders. "There's still a lot of fight left ahead, I still have a few more challenges to get through. I have a lot of training to do if I want to beat em."

She was far too humble.

"I would suppose so. You no longer have to worry about catching up with me, after all. Must free up much of your time." Bede's shoulders were tightly knit. "But I'll have you know, I haven't given up. I must become the Champion to help out the Chairman. I have the full intention to ask him to reinstate me once I see him again."

"Actually, I'm glad I ran into you," Gloria began to say. "That's something I wanted to tell you about. You see after you left-"

She had been cut off before she could finish was she was saying as Opal stormed forward and blurted out the phrase over and over, and cornered him like frightened prey. "Pink! Pink! Pink! Pink! Pink! Now you see here girly, this is the pink I was talking about all along! Congratulations, child!"

Gloria had one of those "what-can-you-do" smiles on her face when he glanced in her direction as she watched.

There was a piece of a conversation that he had been missing between both Gloria and Opal. They must have been talking about something before she ran into him.

That was for another time! Opal was prodding at his sleeves insistently. Bede didn't know how to respond to this woman, either.

He had a Deerling in the headlights look cross his face before he tried to wipe it away. He steadied his hands back at his side and regained his composure best he could. "Ms. Opal, w-what in the world has gotten into you?!"

"You were used by that Olena— am I right? You worked hard to gather wishing stars and then she threw you away like rubbish once she was done with you. Come with me, child, I might be able to help you out." Opal's eyes twinkled with something that seemed kind on the surface but there was a glint to it that seemed delightfully twisted.

For an old woman with a sense of pose, she sure seemed to have something wicked inside. "Although, it does depend upon how much work you're willing to put into it, too."

Help him?

He knows that he has nothing to lose from here on out. He's already lost everything that he had to cling to. Surely, surely it must have been something interesting if this woman spoke with this level of vigor. Bede swallowed and narrowed his eyes.

He found a sense of himself and put a hand on his hip. "Are you… are you testing me?"

Well, if there's one thing that he can do it's pass a test; Gloria and the others would have hell to pay if he could get back into the pitch. He'd show them.

He could make use of this.

"Very well," he said. "As a matter of fact, I plan on making sure you see my full talents and so you tell me everything you know about the wishing stars!"

Opal seemed delighted. She nodded her head, and then glanced over at Gloria who was still staring at them. "You should head on to Circhester, girly. Gym challenges don't take themselves. I'm sure you know the way from Route 7."

"Good luck out there," Gloria said, although her smile was broad, Bede couldn't tell if she was giving luck to him or to Opal. "I'll be on my way."

That was the instant that his life truly began to change to this path he was now on.

As it had turned out, and he would have only learned that fact, later on, Gloria had given Opal a run for her money during her gym challenge nearly to the point where the woman thought Gloria might have been a good choice to take over her gym.

There had been other such challengers in the past that had come close to winning Opal's favor but when it came down to the final choice, something wasn't quite right; Gloria may have been great with Fairy Pokémon, and she may have known everything that she could about them more so than most everyone, there had been something lacking in Opal's opinion.

The lack of pink, Opal had said.

It was something that simply could not be corrected. It was something that one could just see immediately, not something that could simply be trained.

Funny, how it as that the girl that had shown him the power that he now possessed had been glossed over by a specialist in her field just as simple as that.

Hilarious even, that someone like him that had doubted for a moment the prowess and vigor that a Fairy team could possess had become the gym leader in Ballonlea. Not to say that he wasn't the most capable trainer, because Bede was, and he could adapt to any situation better than anyone else in this world.

If anyone had ended up in this position, one would have thought and assumed that it would have been someone like Gloria rather than Bede.

How ironic that he became a Fairy-Specialist after spending so much time around her, Gloria, the girl with a fondness for fairies that had changed everything for not only him but for all of the Galar region.

Perhaps he should have known all along that something inside of him had changed when he first met her back in the day. How that soft look in her brown eyes would come to affect him more than he could ever know. Back in the mines, Gloria had not seemed daunted by him standing in her path when he was searching for wishing stars. He warned her that if she got in his way then she would regret it. She disregarded his warning.

No, she only stared right at him and walked on.

"You'll regret it," he had said, with his hand on his hip. "What a joke. You know an endorsement from the Champion doesn't hold as much one from the Chairman, right? If you insist upon getting in my way, then I'll just have to show you what true power is."

"What a fine attitude ya got there, Wooloo head. If a battle is all you want now, then I have no problem with that," Gloria said with a smile. She was calm, steady, and seemingly unshakable.

What did she call him?

His eyebrow twitched. "I don't take insults from girls who have no sense of style. Did you get that sweater from your Grandmother?"

He wanted to wipe the floor with her before she even realized what had happened to her team, so she could go crying back to the countryside where she came from so he could take the title of Champion.

"I hope your bite matches your bark, then," Gloria said, simply.

Bede tugged out the pokéball belonging to his Solosis and sent it flying.

She came blazing at him with a team that consisted of a Scorbunny, Ralts, and Swirlix the first time. Ah, so she was that kind of trainer, huh? She hadn't struck him as one of those cutesy types.

"Fairies, huh?"

Gloria eyed him down, "Got something wrong with that?" she asked. "Don't tell me you're afraid of a little pink Pokémon."

Bede only smirked, "No, no, I'm just curious to see what you'll do with them against my elite team."

"I'll be happy to show ya what I can do, then!" She said.

So, he immediately assumed right away that this battle was going to end even quicker than he had first thought. It would be quicker than what a fight with that Hop kid would be like. All that glitter and sparkle could be tough but it wasn't tough enough to stand up to him!

Nobody was as strong as he was.

Poor thought that was.

It was a quick battle, but not in the way that he had hoped. She wiped the floor with him without even breaking a sweat.

She hugged her Swirlix once it was said and done, smiling wide and beaming with glee. "Good job out there, what a righteous battle that was. You did your best! I'm proud of you." she murmured.

Bede only stomped his foot and clenched his hands tight at his sides. This was… this was a mistake, and there was no way he was going to let this tarnish him.

He turned his head, "I see… that's fine, I wasn't even trying that hard anyway!"

Gloria only turned back to look at him and thanked him for their battle as anyone would do. "That was a lot of fun! You really had me going there, I thought I was going to lose for sure for a minute there. I can't wait for the next time, Wooloo head. My Fairy team will be waiting to have another go around."

Infuriating.

Simply infuriating.

It was a game.

It seemed like this wasn't life or death in Gloria's eyes, she was taking things far less seriously. She was laughing, playing around, joking, clearly wasting her time when she could have been better spent on getting stronger and taking down more challenges.

He had stormed ahead only to wind up running into her and Hop in the second Galar mine a few days later, and this time, he had only wanted to keep his focus straight on the prize of the wishing stars that he needed to collect.

That hadn't gone as planned, either.

He had fully intended to storm right on by but he found himself drawn to her gaze again. His pride had been hurt and he really needed to teach her a lesson.

With his lips curled into a bemused smirk, "I shouldn't waste my time on somebody weaker than me. But, I suppose it's better to clean the pool early and get rid of the lot of you while I can. It saves you the embarrassment that'll come in at the Championship final. Besides, your sparkling team doesn't stand a chance against us since we've trained."

Hop had barked back at him for saying something rude, but Gloria didn't seem to take those words to heart at all. She merely pulled the pokéball from her side and held it up, "Let's have another tussle then, Wooloo head. I'd love to see your tactics this time."

The second verse, but it was the same as the first verse.

Gloria had given him a run for his money and embarrassed him again! He was supposed to be undefeated, undaunted, and strike those below him with fear of their inevitable loss!

But this girl… she didn't do anything of the sort.

"How's that fairy-power feel now?" She teased him.

"Don't flatter yourself, I would hardly call this a victory for you," Bede responded, bluntly. "My team is simply tired from all the hard work we do for the Chairman while you haven't any responsibilities."

Same as the last time, she thanked him for the match and hoped that they would be able to battle again in the future. "Thanks for the battle nevertheless. I get it. I hope next time around you're one hundred percent ready for a butt-kicking, Wooloo head. I don't think you can handle another dazzling gleam from Slurpuff if everyone's tired."

Although, she did chastise him a bit for speaking ill about her friend before she left him to his own devices in the dark. It wasn't the kind of loud scolding that he expected, it was one of those where the person implied that you were better than that.

Gloria had always been like that.

She defended others with a second glance. It didn't matter whether it was Hop, or if it was someone else. She was always quick to say what had to be said when others were being judged or feel down on themselves. She always looked out for others and it should have been no surprise to him when she did the same for him.

Naturally, any normal person would have lashed out for him for the way that he acted around not only them but their friends as well. Gloria wasn't a person, though. That stands to reason even today.

It just made him feel so strangely.

Just as she had made him feel during the finals.

"Wait!"

Bede rushed into the Pitch before the announcer could go any further with their chorus, he caught his breath and stood in front of Gloria. She was just the same as he had remembered before he had been carted away. Except now she had beaten quite literally everyone that stood in her path, and she was on the cusp of becoming the Champion.

His eyes rested on her for a moment and then it turned back to the audience.

She was shocked to see him, as everyone appeared to be at that moment. "Wooloo head, what are you doing here?"

Bede had to get this weight off of his chest now or he would forever regret never doing it. He took in a breath and began to speak. "A moment, if I may. I am Bede, the challenger who was forced to withdraw from the Gym Challenge."

"Wait. It's Bede! He's the challenger endorsed by Chairman Rose himself."

He turned his head, "I have a score to settle with Challenger Gloria here. I'm aware it's against the rules, but I must ask nonetheless. Let me battle her! I'll stake my career as a challenger on this battle. If I lose, I'll retire from being a trainer."

He meant it.

Bede had gone through so much exhausting training and he wanted the chance to see if it had been worth anything. He had to be able to see himself through this starting with the person that had pushed him back.

Gloria was staring at him now, and a gasp escaped from her lips. If she had been surprised by his appearance, him saying he would quit being a trainer one hundred percent was even more shocking. Her mouth opened, and then it closed as she struggled to understand if she had heard him say what she thought that he had said.

"Bede," his name left her lips for the first time. "What are you saying? Being a trainer, battling, that's everything for you- you can't just give it up! What do you mean you'll just throw in the towel?!"

It was as simple as it sounded.

"What an unexpected turn of events! Former Challenger Bede has come for one last battle," The Announcer was just as surprised, flabbergasted even, and voices could be heard in the background of the booth. "We are currently debating what to do with Challenger Bede. To all our viewers, both in the stadium and at home in front of the telly, we ask that you please be patient."

"I know this is ridiculous of me. But I had to say something… do something!" His shoulders were tense and at that moment, he felt so very small. Bede was frustrated and the fact of the matter was, he had been holding all of these feelings in for so long that it bubbled to the surface when he least wanted it.

The roar of the crowd was enough to keep this conversation between the two of them alone.

Gloria had to listen to him now.

Bede shook his head. "Ever since you showed up, everything that I've done has gone wrong. It was Oleana who asked me to gather Wishing Stars for the chairman, but then the chairman himself disowned me for it. Then this old woman comes out of nowhere and drags me into boot camp on Fairy-Type Pokémon!"

He started losing battles for the first time in his life. Everyone around him started treating him differently. He was utterly cast aside by those that had been there with him since he was a young boy, left alone to figure out what to do next. Then, a woman comes along and takes him away someplace to endure what one could only call day and night tea parties!

What kind of nonsense was that!

To make matters worse, this was the most emotion that he had ever let out of himself to anyone before. Gloria was quiet, listening to every little word as he let it fizzle out. "Do you have any idea what I've been through?! Covered in pink, dealing with quizzes and battles with Fairy-types every single day! And here I am, pouring my heart out to you… when I've never lost my cool before!"

"Bede, I…" she trailed, she raised a hand in his direction only for it to fall back to her side as she looked from him to the ground. "I never knew that you were hurting this badly. I never meant to make things harder on anyone."

"Poor thought that was," his bitter laugh escaped his lips. "Look at this mess we've both gotten into. Shouldn't our roles be reversed right now? I should be the one fighting the Champion, and you should be the one dealing with the mad tea party in Ballonlea, huh?"

"I was really happy when Opal picked you, though," she said. "It would have been too obvious for her to pick someone like me. Sometimes things don't always work out the way we expect, and that can turn out to be a good thing. Look at you now, you're here and you've probably built an incredible team."

There it was again, her humility.

The voice overhead began to talk again as the lull of the crowd quieted to hear what they had to say, "We've reached a conclusion, ladies and gentlemen. The Champion himself has accepted Bede's sudden interruption! is the Champion showing his love… by giving every trainer a chance to grow stronger?! Or is it a trial for Challenger Gloria?"

Bede turned away to start walking to his side of the field. "My will hasn't been broken yet, Gloria! We've faced too much to quit now. We've got no choice but to win."

Gloria's voice rang through his eyes. "If this is going to be our last battle together, then I want us to have as much fun as humanly possible! Show me **your **Fairy-Type power, Bede! I want you to give me a run for my money. Fairy versus Fairy!"

It was a long-fought battle.

The two of them were nearly evenly matched in regard to strength and level. Each of their Pokémon pushed it to their absolute limits.

Her Gardevoir pushed hard against his Gardevoir until the last second where she was cornered and had to change out, her Slurpuff chomped at the bit to defeat his Mawile after barely scraping victory from the Gardevoir only to faint at the same time as his Pokémon, leaving her Rapidash to defeat his only after finding an opening at the right moment with a vicious psycho cut.

It left him with his last option.

But it was the Pokémon that had been with the longest, the one that he had caught on his own. "What's with that calm expression? Think you're going to win here? We'll show you a truly great pink! It's time for my dear Hatterene to Gigantamax!"

Gloria was smiling at him in spite of the severity of the battle. She seemed to be having a lot of fun. Bede didn't realize it at the time, but there had been the smallest of a curl to the edge of his lips as well. She looked at her last pokéball and sent it flying. "Alcremie, it's your time to shine!"

Bede gave it everything he had.

Gloria gave it all that she had.

But, in the end, she beat him.

"It looks like Challenger Bede was no match for Challenger Gloria and her trusted team!"

His body was betraying him. At first, he clenched his fists tight, but then he released them and breathed in a deep breath. It was like a weight had come off of both of his shoulders. He had lost here. He had never planned on this happening. "Well… I lost. I couldn't win but at least I could show everyone how great Fairy-types are."

He hadn't felt this electric before in his life. This rush of euphoria alongside the feeling of disappointment flooded his head. This would be the last time, then, the last time he could face Gloria. He could get away from that old woman her plans once and for all, but he just didn't feel satisfied.

It was like something wasn't right.

The voices of the crowd began to invade his mind as he turned his body and fully intended on walking out of that place. He stopped dead in his tracks as they cheered at him, for him, and spoke of what he had not considered.

"Bede! That was a great match!"

"Don't retire! Just restart your career!"

"You can do it, Bede!"

Gloria's voice was among them, too. "They're right, Bede. If anyone deserves a second chance, it's you," she said. "I know it just wouldn't be the same if I couldn't battle you anymore."

Bede sucked in a breath. It may have not been what he planned but he was never the type to stop. "B-but this isn't what I planned! If I was able to defeat you then everything would be fine. Even if I lost today, I was going to use that as an excuse to be rid of Ms. Opal! You just keep messing up my plans again! With everyone cheering me on like this I have no choice but to continue my training as the Fairy-type Gym Leader!"

He turned his head to look over at Gloria. Her eyes were wide and he could have sworn there was the smallest hint of tears at the corner of them. She broke out into the biggest smile.

His cocky smirk returned. "Though, I suppose with my talents, I'll be able to overtake Ms. Opal in no time."

Bede did keep his word.

He worked himself for hours to be able to become the person that he was now. He fought tooth and nail until Opal decided she didn't need to babysit him from the sidelines anymore and he could take on opponents without her chastising gaze on his back.

He became the leader of the gym without much trouble. However, there was one thing that he still hadn't been able to sort out since those days. It has a lot to do with Gloria. If there's one thing that Bede is absolutely and utterly certain of it's that he abhors the way his heart viciously pounds against his rib cage every instance he finds himself within mere steps of Gloria.

After so many battles and challenges with that girl since they had first met one another, he had finally accepted that she was the Champion and he was not, but there was simply one thing that he couldn't accept.

And it was the way his heartfelt when they were in the same room!

At first, it was an insistent clatter of annoyance that some trainer thought that could even stand up to bar to fight him- him, the boy that was handpicked by the Chairman himself for the league challenge, him, the boy who was cast aside by the man only after doing what they expected of him, him, the boy carted away by Opal before he knew what was happening to undergo intensive training the likes of which no one has ever known!

He's been festering in these strange feelings for weeks on end with seemingly no conclusion to it in sight. Nobody had ever quite been able to get under his skin the way that she had and really, she had stormed her way into him faster than a Zigzagoon could use its tackle attack. Bede found it difficult, at times, as there was no real way to ever avoid Gloria being who she was and who he was. Today, for example, all those involved with the gym challenge were meeting together in preparation for beginning the new season and all that would be coming.

It was a party, more or less.

He wasn't a fan of those things. He usually wound up in the corner of the room to his own devices. It wasn't that he didn't know how to interact with people, it was more so that he wasn't a fan of talking and jazzing it up with others when he had other things that he could be doing with his time.

Bede wasn't the person that he used to be, but that didn't mean that he had totally changed his ways. He had only come at the behest of Gloria. She had nearly begged him to drop by at the very least. She had to greet everyone else and take care of that, and she hadn't come around to speak with him yet.

So, here he was, in the back of the room, watching her as she moved.

"You're going to stare a hole through her head, mate."

Bede scowled. He lifted his head and caught sight of Hop looking at him with somewhat of a knowing glint in his eyes. How long had this buffoon been nearby without him noticing?

"I haven't the slightest notion of what you're talking about." Bede deflected.

Hop cocked an eyebrow, "Really? You've been starin' at Gloria for the past half hour with that lovestruck Lillipup look on your face, nearly drooling. I'm starting to think Mister High and Mighty is a big Torchic."

"Mind your business," Bede crossed his arms over his chest. "Whatever I do or don't feel is none of your concern."

"Actually," Hop corrected him. "She's my best friend, and whatever concerns her heart is important to me. I want to make sure that she's alright and that blockheads like you don't break her heart in the first place."

"She's perfectly capable of handling herself," Bede replied. His eyes narrowed as he searched Hop's expression for any trace of fear. "Or, was that not evident by how she became the Champion by beating every single one of us during the last challenge?

Now, that comment made Hop's face turn red in either shame or embarrassment as Bede poked at his past. Hop was always too easy to rile up and send down a path of this and that, he always rushed headfirst into things whereas Gloria watched and waited for things to happen.

They were truly polar opposites.

Hop put his hands up in his defense. "All's I'm saying is, everyone knows that you've got a thing for Gloria."

Bede's gaze lingered in Gloria's direction. She was chatting with others and her smile was as bright as it had ever been. She really knew how to make everyone in the room feel energized. It was different than how Leon was, no, he was an electric energy that made everyone want to battle, and Gloria's energy was more of a glow that drew others in.

Sometimes it felt like she was far from his reach. Other times he wanted to smudge out that feeling in his chest before it swallowed him up like a Swalot. Sometimes he wondered if it was possible to fall out of love with someone, and then, when he saw her looking at him, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to lose that feeling.

That feeling that made her one of his rivals.

The way that she made him feel every time that they had battled had been such a large part of why he pushed himself so hard. He loved to feel that spark that he could never feel unless he was with Gloria.

Not that he was going to admit that.

Which is why every time he got in the same space as she was, his heart would start to pound out of its cavity and he would instantly prattle on about how much stronger he was than her, and how his Fairy-Types were better than her Fairy-Types even though they had very similar teams.

She would laugh, and accept his challenge.

It always went down like that.

There had been times when he thought about just talking with her about all of these feelings but every single time he went to do so he just—

Did what he always did because that was easy.

"Even if I did," Bede started. "It's not like it matters. She's far too busy with her work as the Champion and keeping things in line, and I'm busy with shaking things up at my gym. Why waste time on something as silly as that anyway?"

Hop stared at him. "That sounds like giving in the towel. I never thought I'd see the day when you gave up on something. I guess Aipoms can fly now. I oughta go check the telly and give it a looksy because the day has finally come."

He stood from the seat he was sitting in and took a step closer to the Postwick boy, he glowered at him with his fists at his sides. It would have been more intimidating had it not been for the fact that Hop had had a growth spurt that made him taller than Bede was.

It sure didn't stop Hop from momentarily flinching though.

"If you want to have a battle with me so you can lose again, rest assured, you've said your fighting words," he warned.

"So you can show off in front of Gloria?" Hop continued to speak, "I bet you'd like that seeing as you've already gone and become her favorite type of trainer. It's kind of ridiculous that you as much as you stare at her that you haven't even noticed how much she's looking at you."

What?

That was when Gloria decided to drop by and show her face.

She peeked out onto the platform where her two friends were standing and cocked her head to the side. "Now what's all this? Don't tell me you two are going at it again for old times' sake. Honestly, if you want to battle, wait till the games open up again to have a go."

Hop slapped his hand against Bede's back and laughed that off. He gave him a small push forward as a little nudge to go into action. Bede glared back at him but there was no going back from here. "We were just catching up, actually, Gloria. You wouldn't believe what Beed's been up to."

His eyebrow twitched, "I told you to stop calling me that!"

Hop ignored him and continued to talk. "Beed's been working hard training out in Glimwood Tangle lately, he was just saying how easy it is to get lost in the forest when he's alone, and I said that he should talk to you about that since you're the only other Fairy-Specialist here, whataya' think? Any advice for the guy since you train there too?"

Gloria pursed her lips. She thoughtfully paused for a moment in thought. She really didn't see through Hop's words, not at all, she utterly believed him without question on the matter. She pressed her hands together, "First I'm hearing of something like that, Wooloo head. Haven't you been listening to your Rapidash and bonking the mushrooms on their heads?"

Great.

Now she thought he was an idiot.

Bede opened his mouth and then shut it. "Of course, I have! That's the first thing Ms. Opal drilled into me. What do you take me for? A Slowpoke?"

Gloria pressed a hand to her lip to stifle her laugh, "I'm just making sure, Wooloo head! The last time I went in without someone with me, I had a hoard of Impidimp get my head turned upside down when I turned down the wrong path. They're bad about playing pranks on people, I swear."

He could twist this conversation to something that made him look less like a fool, couldn't he?

"There's been an awful lot of ruckus from Phantump and Litwick in the forest as of late, actually," he told her. "I've been having to tend to them off and on since they tend to shriek into the late hours of the night and lure kids away."

Oh, now that had Gloria's attention.

She frowned. "That's awful. Is that why you were so reluctant to come today? Because you've been working so hard during the night?"

Now Hop had the audacity to leave him behind with this mess, his lips curled into a wide mocking grin. It seemed this was his form of payback for the past. "I'll leave you two to hash this one out. I think Leon just arrived from the Battle Tower, I wanna catch him up with what I've been studying with Sonia!"

"Well…" Bede trailed, off.

It wasn't entirely wrong.

He did come at Gloria's urging because he would do whatever she asked of him, but he did have a bit of work to do back home. He took care of his business as he needed to do, he didn't need to expect the Champion to solve everything. A lot of people did, and he wasn't about to let Gloria waste her time on something that he could take care of.

"You could've just told me, Bede," she told him.

Her hand reached out and brushed against his shoulder. His cheeks and ears began to burn hotly. "I know you can handle yourself but a little help never hurt anybody. Besides, you and I work together as a real charm with our Fairy Pokémon, not to toot my own horn. We could have that mess cleaned up in no time!"

They worked well together, she said.

Ugh.

Why was the universe taunting him like this?

Bede turned his head to the side, flustered. "Well. I can't say that you're wrong about that."

"Now that's the Bede I know," Gloria giggled. As if he could have withstood the sound of that with her so close to him. God, that fluttering in his stomach was going in circles. "So whataya' say? Do you mind if I tag along with you back to Ballonlea this afternoon once the festivities are over? We can give those Ghost Types a real Dazzling Gleam."

"It's a date, then," Bede said, and then he immediately realized the weight of what he said, regretting that very choice of words.

What did he just say?

Much to his surprise, Gloria didn't shy away from him. Her hand fell from his shoulder, however, and she took hold of his hand instead to which he quickly went limp in and pulled his hand back to safety. There was the smallest dusting of lovely pink against her cheeks.

"What I meant was—We're going to work together out there, today, the date of today will be important since everybody will be so impressed with how quickly we fix it all, that is." He deflected it as best he could but the damage had been done. "Yeah, that's what I meant."

Gloria was skeptical. There was a knowing look in her expression at the same time that settled some of his nerves. But, she knew when to tease him and when not to tease him about something. Unlike some people around here who thought it was hilarious to throw somebody under the Wailord for fun.

"Of course," she smiled. "We're the best Fairy-Specialists around, after all."

Any excuse to hang out with Gloria?

He would take it.


End file.
